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Pochettino: Tottenham ready for ‘decisive’ Monaco clash

Mauricio Pochettino: Aware of Monaco importance

Mauricio Pochettino believes Spurs’ dramatic win against West Ham was the perfect way to prepare for their must-win game against Monaco.

Defeat for Tottenham and a victory for Leverkusen over CSKA Moscow would end their hopes of reaching the last 16, but the last-gasp heroics on Saturday has given Pochettino’s men a timely confidence boost.

“It’s a very decisive game, it is a game we must win now and we all know [that],” Pochettino told Spurs TV.

“The weekend was good, a great victory for us to lift us and recover that feeling of winning games, I think it was very important.

“We know very well that we must win [against Monaco] and take the three points if we want to go to the next round. We need to win.”

Pochettino is sweating on the fitness of three key players ahead of the crucial clash.

Harry Kane will be assessed after he played the whole match against West Ham on Saturday, having only just returned from an ankle injury, while a late decision will also be made on Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele.

Alli has been struggling with a knee injury and Dembele has a niggling foot problem. Erik Lamela (hip), Toby Alderweireld (leg) and Ben Davies (ankle) are all out.